“And that means Duul might come for you too,” I said.
“Yes, which is why I must evolve as quickly as possible. I’m certainly not strong enough to stand against him as I am.
“My powers are subdued when I’m in my chrysalis, so I’ll need a chosen one to protect me. Say, what’s your name?”
“Arden,” I said.
“Arden,” Nola repeated. “You are the chosen one.”
“Me?” I asked. An orphan, berated by a heartless priest, shut up in a temple tower for my whole life. No family, no friends. How could I be the one?
“Yes,” Nola said. “You’re the only one around, so there aren’t many to choose from. I choose you. That makes you chosen.”
She added some dramatic flourish at the end, but her words made it clear: I was chosen out of necessity, not by prophesy. Still, I’d take what I could get.
“What does a chosen one do?” I asked.
“Keep me safe,” she said, “and maybe spruce this place up a bit. The gi-ants knocked down the door to my temple when they came to kidnap me, so things look a little unprofessional right now. No one’s going to come pay me homage if this place is a wreck.”
“How often do people pay you homage?” I asked.
“Okay, Mister Smart Guy,” she said, “never. But if I had a nice temple that sort of thing might change. And a head priest.”
“What kind of a temple doesn’t have a head priest?” I asked.
“The kind that’s really just an empty cave so far,” she confessed. “Look, I’m real new at this, but the one thing I can do is make you my head priest. It’s an honorific title that has a few perks like—”
“Like opening the skillmeister skill,” I said.
“So that you know about, but not the names of the pantheon’s most important gods. I don’t know what to assume with you.”
“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll be your head priest.”
“Good,” Nola said. “When visitors finally come, tell them that you serve Nola, the goddess of clever insight, bestower of ideas never too small, who inspires the creative thoughts you experience as you lay in bed hoping instead to sleep.”
“Wait,” I said, “are you a good god or an evil one?”
She signed. “I’d like to give people ideas at more opportune times, but my powers are limited. Perhaps when I evolve I can serve as a more convenient muse. Until then, ideas before falling asleep are better than nothing. And besides, that’s not all I do.
“Now,” she said, “drag me back inside.” Nola sank back inside her crystal and folded her arms over her chest. Now that her nipples weren’t showing I felt less self-conscious about glancing at her. Once I dragged her crystal inside the cave, it floated of its own accord. She perched, hovering in the air, above a stone slab altar. Two stone bowls, one on each side, sat with no fire in them. The light from outside was barely enough to see by, but I assumed those were torch pits in need of a flame.
Head Priest Arden. She spoke inside my mind. That was creepy as hell. It would definitely take some getting used to. Speak these words to pledge your fealty to me and accept your new role: I, Arden.
“I, Arden,” I said.
Do take this post.
“Do take this post.”
Freely, despite the risks.
“What risks!?”
We’re about to create a psychic bond, which sometimes goes wrong. You might end up insane or braindead. Or you could become a skillmeister. Probably the latter.
I wondered, after the things I thought I saw so far this day, if I hadn’t already gone insane. If so, there wasn’t much to lose if this went wrong. “Freely, despite the risks.”
A second went by. Then another one. Then my mind lit up like a house on fire.
+3
Pain seared through every nerve. I had flashes of memories that I thought were long forgotten. Playing with the other children from the orphanage. Getting scolded by Cahn for taking bread from the temple kitchen when I hadn’t eaten in days. Being laughed at by a beautiful girl who came to the temple to pray and said I was too dirty and too ugly for her to bother looking at let alone speaking to.
I cried, but not for those memories. Those memories had toughened me up. No, I cried because this hurt like getting hit in the balls with a sledgehammer, but in this case my balls were inside my head and my brain was screaming in a high-pitched voice, now you will never have children. Actually, forget children, you will never even have thoughts again. You, sir, are a potato and a mental eunuch.
Today I learned: Just because a girl is pretty doesn’t mean you should let her inside your head.
When the pain finally subsided, I slumped to the floor, completely spent.
I can’t speak to you like this easily when you stray from the temple, Nola said. But when you are near, I’ll try to give you clever ideas that will help you do your job. For instance, did you know that if you get a health potion and freeze it, it will make a rejuvenating ice pop during the hot summer months? I’m full of tips like that. Nola, holy deliverer of life hacks.
My breathing was still heavy from the ordeal I went through.
Well, go ahead. Try out your new skill!
I thought about my skills. Instantly, a menu opened before my eyes, one that only I could see. I was mesmerized by the soft blue light that shone in the form of words and numbers. Finally, I was seeing what the world’s few skillmeisters had seen. What Cahn had seen. I had joined an elite class, reserved for the few who could see what a person’s life experiences amounted to, and decide whether to use those experiences to make them stronger, and in which ways.
Δ
Skillmeister View of:
Arden Hochbright
Base Attribute / XP to Next / Intended Change / Total XP Cost
-
1 Constitution / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
1 Vivacity / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
1 Strength / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
1 Hardiness / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
1 Focus / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
1 Resolve / 25 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
-
TOTAL BASE ATTRIBUTE XP COST: 0
Stats Affected by Change
-
[Constitution] Health Points (HP): 100/100
-
[Vivacity] Action Points (AP): 20/20
-
[Strength] Phys. Damage Inflict Range: 10-12
-
[Hardiness] Phys. Damage Block Range: 5-8
-
[Focus] Mag. Damage Inflict Range: 10-12
-
[Resolve] Mag. Damage Block Range: 5-8
Skills For Weapon Class: Polearm
-
Locked.
Piercing Blow 1.
Damage multiplier of 2.0
. [15 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 5] [125 XP to unlock].
-
Improve to Piercing Blow 2 for damage multiplier of 2.2. [20 AP to cast] [Requires: Strength 7] [250 XP to improve].
…
Intended Change: None
Cost Subtotaclass="underline" 0
-
TOTAL POLEARM SKILL XP COST: 0
Skills for Special Class: Skillmeister
-
Locked.
Precision Training 1.
Reduce the XP cost of skills and attributes by 1%